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"I'm sorry, can I have a red wine please? I love your accent, where are you from?"
A voice next to me piped up, "London. It's cute, isn't it? I keep telling him how sexy it makes him."
Fucking Harmony. I turned to see her flash a huge, forced smile at the two women.
"How's it going honey?" she asked me. If her voice oozed any more sweetness, her teeth would fall out.
"Thanks Harmony. I'm capable of answering for myself though. Shouldn't you be going?" I growled at her as I poured the drinks.
She sniffed, and flounced off in a huff. Turning back to the women, I smiled.
"Sorry about her. Two red wines for two beautiful women." I placed the drinks on the counter. We’d already gone through four kegs and twenty cases of wine. It seemed people liked their free alcohol. "Enjoy your night, ladies." They giggled as they disappeared back into the crowd.
As soon as things began to slow down at the bar, I went to mingle. There were lots of people there that night whom I needed to meet; people who could make or break the success of my bar. People, including Louis Cane, critic and reviewer for the NY Tribune's Get Out section. I spied him sitting near the front with two other men, listening to the band. I grabbed hold of Rose's arm, as she sauntered over to me.
She looked at me; first
in surprise, then that sexy, sexy smile began to appear.
"Over there, those men, can you grab three Scotches, please? I need them to enjoy themselves tonight," I whispered. She nodded, and walked over to the bar.
I stood back and watched as she carried the drinks over to them. She said something and they all laughed as she placed the drinks on the coffee table in front of them. My pulse increased as one of them checked out her ass as she bent over. God, could I blame him? I'd be doing the same fucking thing if I were in his shoes.
She looked fucking hot tonight. That skirt hugged the curves of her ass like it was afraid of falling off. Fuck, how I'd love to be the one to tug that skirt off, throw her down on the table and ram my—.
"Jack. This place is going off."
I tore my eyes away from her and focused on Alex. I breathed out suddenly, unaware that I had even been holding my breath. I reached out and grabbed hold of the doorframe in front of me, trying to steady myself. I felt dizzy, like all the blood had rushed from my head. Alex pulled a chair around toward me and pushed me onto it.
"Are you okay?"
He followed my gaze over to Rose, and then looked back at me. My jaw clenched as she continued to laugh at whatever shit Louis was whispering in her ear. What was wrong with me? She was doing what I'd told her to do, making sure they had a good time. Anything to secure a positive review, right?
Only their review was the furthest thing from my mind right now. All I cared about was the way he was touching her cheek. The way her lips parted into a smile when he spoke. And this fuckhead was married. What the hell did he think he was doing? I was fucking minutes away from pulling out my phone, taking some pictures and sending them to the newspaper.
I stood up, my hands clenching into fists beside me.
"Jack, wait." Alex moved in front of me. "What the hell is wrong with you? You look like you're ready to beat the shit out of someone."
"I . . . I don't know what the fuck’s wrong with me," I growled. I turned away. Alex grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the crowd.
“Jack, calm the fuck down,” he ordered. “Whatever the problem is, deal with it later.”
He was right. I nodded, and patted his arm, before leaving him to join Rose.
I walked up behind her, my arm touching the curve of her back. She jumped and turned to me, eyes wide with surprise and excitement. I forced myself to focus on Louis and the guys, and not how my hand tingled against her back; or the way my cock was beginning to throb in my pants. If I kept thinking about her then I'd start thinking about other things, which would leave me with a rather “obvious” problem that I really didn't want to have to explain to a room full of people.
“Louis, glad you could make it. You've met Rose, I see?” I said smoothly, reaching my free hand out to meet his. We shook firmly and he smiled, his eyes then turning to linger over Rose.
“Yes, you certainly do have some definite . . . attractions other bars don’t have. Not a bad launch, Jack.” His eyes didn’t leave her. My chest tightened as I again resisted the urge to punch the guy. I took a step back, confused by the anger that was raging inside of me. Where the hell had that come from? The fact that it bothered me so much that guys were paying her attention bothered me.
“Thanks, but this is just the beginning,” I said confidently, forcing my feelings aside. We’d been chatting for a few more minutes when Harmony appeared by my side, her eyes narrowing in on Rose. Oh god, here we go.
Without thinking, I snaked my arm around Rose's waist and pulled her close to me, kissing her neck, the smell of her perfume driving me insane. She tensed in my arms as Harmony's jaw dropped so far open it almost hit the floor. Luis frowned.
“Luis, this is Harmony, a friend of mine,” I announced.
Luis turned his gaze to Harmony's breasts, then managed a smile. He even managed to lift his gaze to her face. She narrowed her eyes at me, then turned to Rose. Fuck. The way she was glaring at Rose was even scaring me. I braced myself, waiting for her to say something—or maybe tackle Rose to the ground—but instead she tossed her hair and smiled at Luis.
